Review

Sony offers several lenses for the Nex camera system, and in this Sony lens review I’m going to cover the Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Autofocus Lens using both the Nex-C3 and Nex-5N. The Sony 18-55mmE-Mount Lens comes as an optional kit lens with all the Nex Cameras. The Sony SEL1855 is has 11 total elements in 9 groups with 4 aspherical surfaces so you get clear images without aberrations or distortion. This lens also has an internal motor which creates smooth and quiet autofocusing. The 35mm equivalent for this lens is 27mm – 82.5mm, which provides a very nice range!

I have over 1000 shots with this lens easily between the two of them and overall I am very satisfied with the results and performance!

Official Features

The E-Mount SEL 1855 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens for Alpha NEX Cameras from Sony is designed for use on Alpha NEX digital cameras. This standard zoom lens has a 35mm format equivalent to a 27-82.5mm lens. Covering angles of view from 76 to 29 degrees, this wide to medium zoom lens is ideal for a variety of subjects including portraits and landscapes. Plus, with a short focusing distance of only 9.7″ (0.25 m), you can get in tight for interesting close-ups.

The Sony SEL 1855 is built with 11 elements in 9 groups with 4 aspherical surfaces so you get clear images without aberrations or distortion. Its internal motor allows for smooth and quiet autofocusing, which you will love even while you are capturing images in the camera’s HD movie mode.

The compact size (only 2.4″, 6.0cm) of the lens and light weight (6.9 oz, 194g) perfectly complement Sony’s Alpha NEX cameras which incorporate a huge image sensor into a very compact frame. The results are high-quality still and HD movie captures without the extra size and weight of standard DSLR cameras.

Designed to match your Alpha NEX camera, the SEL 1855 standard zoom lens is lightweight and features smooth and silent autofocusing while offering an all-purpose focal range for beautiful shots.

In the 35mm equivalent, this lens covers subjects from wide-angle (27mm) to midrange (82.5mm); ideal for capturing subjects such as close-up portraits to expansive landscapes

As you can see this lens is pretty large in comparison to the 16mm Pancake and the Nex Camera’s themselves. Once you mount this lens the Nex camera of choice is no longer compactness of the is pretty much gone out the window. So, in that regard this lens may not be what your looking for. However, there are not that many lenses available for the E-mount Nex Cameras yet, so this lens is pretty appealing to the Nex community as a whole. Including myself!

Test Shots

All these test shots were taken with the Sony Nex-C3 and as you know if you read my reviews, I’m not a big fan of test shots at all. Don’t get me wrong, I know they serve a purpose, but how the lens performs in the real world is all that matters to me. That being said, test shots can ne useful to compare apertures, depth of filed diferences, sharpness etc.. I shot using the scene below comprised of three colorful leaves in the center foreground, and a colorful flower basket and deck railing approximately 5 feet behind the leaves. The Camera was ~ 1-3 feet away from the leaf depending on the focal length I was testing. This set-up produces a pretty nice bokeh in the background which is perfect for inspection purposes.

A few Test Shots @ 18mm with the 18-55mm E-Mount Lens

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/3.5, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/3.5, 18mm

100% Crop – Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/3.5, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/4, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/4, 18mm

100% Crop – Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/4, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/4.5, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/4.5, 18mm

100% Crop – Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/4.5, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/5.6, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/5.6, 18mm

100% Crop – Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/5.6, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/8, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/8, 18mm

100% Crop – Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/8, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/11, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/11, 18mm

100% Crop – Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/11, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/16, 18mm

Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/16, 18mm

100% Crop – Sony E-Mount 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens @ f/16, 18mm

As you can see from the 18mm Test shots and 100% crops above, this lens takes a nice sharp consistant photo in the center of the frame at 18mm. We can also see there is a bit distortion on the edges as the deck railing and floor are strait, but appear bowed in these images. This can easily be fixed in Lightroom 3 or Adobe ACR though if your shooting Raw!! Also note how the focus of the flowers in background changes as the aperture changes, producing more detail with each step down in Aperture. At f/16 you can see pretty clearly what the flowers look like, but at f/3.5 they look more like colorful blobs

Real World Photos

Now it’s time to move on to the real photos which is all that really matters in the end anyway I have a huge variety of shots to inspect, so be sure to click the images and get the nice large gallery style view! Also be sure to note the Exif data below each image which tells you exactly what you need to know about the photo!! In addition to all that I have a Google+ sample gallery up with a ton more photos, and it’s a great viewing experience worth checking out!! Sony E-Mount 18-55mm Sample Gallery on Google + Why your there be sure to sign up!!

Conclusion

To conclude this review I just wanted to say that this lens is a pleasure to use, has great range and is very sharp across the board. In addition to that it’s relatively inexpensive as far as glass is concerned, so for the money this is a no brainer purchase in my opinion. The lens also has 4 Aspherical Elements which pretty much eliminates Chromatic Aberrations, although sometimes you can see them on the edges when it’s super contrasty. The distortion is pretty noticeable at the wide end (18mm), but if your shooting raw you can simple apply the Adobe lens correction profile in Adobe ACR, or Lightroom. The focus is a little slow when your used to USM or SSM super fast focus, but it works well and is quite as advertised.

That pretty much wraps it up, however please fire away if you have any questions or if you want a specific test shot done etc.. I currently own this lens along with the Nex-6 if you need specific test shots done.

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I’ll see what I can do, but I don’t have any of that stuff currently and it’s mostly on back order. I will be getting the 16mm and f/1.8 for sure when they become available, but the camera body will depend. I can tell you that the object tracking in low light is not very good with the 18-55mm which I tried a while back. It depends on the objects speed, and contrast relative to the scene. the AF works off the contrast. I have the Carl Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 and the Nex-7, so I’ll test it out with Chubs or Sadie for ya asap Stay tuned for that!!

I am considering the purchase of a SonyAlphaNex F3 to take on a trip to India in a few months. I don’t know whether or not to buy a “bundle” that includes a 18-55 and a 55-200 lens or to purchase the camera body and the lenses separately. Is there a difference in the lens quality when you “bundle” and are these the best lenses for my travel needs? I want to shoot landscape, tigers and birds in the wild and people. Do you have some suggestions on both my camera choice and lens selection?

The Sony Nex-f3 bundles are a great deal if you want the items in them. All the lenses are pretty good in my opinion that are bundled and the 55-210mm complements the 18-55mm perfectly. The lenses are identical when included in a bundle vs purchasing separate.

The Nex-5n is the other camera I would look at even though it’s the older model. It has a few more advanced features and better build quality. It’s on sale because of the New Nex-6 and Nex-5r release.